Volume 3 Issue 3, March 2019

Bacteria sense metal ions using proteins whose interactions with DNA are sensitive to metal ion availability and identity. Less competitive metal ions trigger protein–DNA binding only at high concentrations.

Careful reaction design has enabled the use of single electron transfer reagent samarium diiodide in substoichiometric amounts to catalyse radical cyclizations.

X-ray structures of reactant and product states, as well as theoretical calculations, have helped uncover the mechanism of Escherichia coli phosphofructokinase 2.

When presented with a light stimulus, heteroaryl azo photoswitches undergo molecular motion that can be harnessed for applications in materials science, catalyst design or drug development, among other fields. This Review describes selected subclasses of these versatile chemical motifs, covering their properties and prominent applications.

Over the past 5 years, many novel site-selective protein modification techniques have been reported. Key features of these various strategies as well as prominent examples are discussed in this Review.

A quasi-liquid layer on the surface of ice makes it slippery even below the bulk melting temperature. The nature of this premelted layer has long been debated, and this Review gathers experimental and theoretical data and discusses opinions and evidence on premelting at ice surfaces.

The high lithium-ion conductivity and deformability of solid sulfide electrolytes make them key materials in all-solid-state lithium batteries. Liquid-phase reactions are valid and scalable approaches for the preparation of sulfide-based solid electrolytes that overcome the issues of moisture sensitivity and high vapour pressures of sulfur species.